The second annual Children’s Holiday Festival at the Saint Louis
Science Center takes place Dec. 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Dec.
5 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Dec. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. Admission to the public event is $6 (mention Ladue News for $1
off ticket price). Tickets will be available at the door. Proceeds
from the festival, which include silent and live auctions and
raffles, benefit St. Louis Children’s Hospital. A preview/auction
party will be held Wednesday, Dec. 2. For ticket information, call
286-0995 or visit http://stlouischildrens.org/holidayfestival">stlouischildrens.org/holidayfestival.
cover design by Noah Palone

Young patient Isaac Noel

Charities & Nonprofits St. Louis Children’s Hospital

Fun and Fund Raisers

The second annual Children’s Holiday Festival at the Saint Louis
Science Center takes place Dec. 4 from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Dec.
5 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Dec. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. Admission to the public event is $6 (mention Ladue News for $1
off ticket price). Tickets will be available at the door. Proceeds
from the festival, which include silent and live auctions and
raffles, benefit St. Louis Children’s Hospital. A preview/auction
party will be held Wednesday, Dec. 2. For ticket information, call
286-0995 or visit stlouischildrens.org/holidayfestival.
cover design by Noah Palone

Young patient Isaac Noel

Many of us have fond memories of spending Christmas morning with
our children and seeing the excitement in their eyes as they take
in the vision of the tree and all the presents beneath. But for
parents of seriously ill children, the holidays can be filled with
anxiety and worry about the health of their child.

For the second year in a row, the folks at St. Louis Children’s
Hospital (SLCH) are working to bring some of that magic back with
the Children’s Holiday Festival, a wonderland of festive,
one-of-a-kind trees auctioned off to benefit the hospital and the
families it serves. The idea was conceived by Lisa Boyce, who
co-chairs the event with her husband, Greg, and Bob and Kim
Brinkmann. “My husband and I have lived in communities that had
similar events benefiting the local hospital,” Boyce says. “When we
moved here in 2003, I mentioned the idea to a few people, and they
all agreed that St. Louis would be a great community for this type
of event.”

Boyce says she hopes to build on the sense of community and
connection established during last year’s maiden festival, which
raised $500,000 for the hospital. Peabody Energy returns as the
event’s presenting sponsor, and this year’s festival will feature
something unique, according to Boyce. “Since energy is a focus—with
all the lights, etc.—we’ll have a ‘circle of energy’ supporting
children’s health, with additional sponsors including Arch Coal,
Ameren, Laclede Gas, Conoco Phillips, Armstrong Coal and an
anonymous donor.”

The event, taking place Dec. 4 through 6 with a preview and
auction party Dec. 2, is held at the Saint Louis Science Center.
The approximately 80 elaborately decorated holiday trees on display
are either offered up for sponsorship or auctioned off, explains
Wende Conwell, SLCH’s special events manager. For example,
‘honorary patient trees’ can be sponsored for $2,000. “Each sponsor
is partnered with a patient, and the sponsor decorates the tree
with the patient in mind,” she says. “The families get to take the
tree home after the event.” The honorary trees are unveiled during
a Saturday morning breakfast attended by the sponsors and patients
and their families. “It’s pretty magical when the kids walk in for
the first time,” she says. “Last year, we had Curious George,
Hannah Montana and country music trees. Many of the trees also had
presents underneath them.”

In addition, more than two dozen trees are designated ‘designer
trees,’ available for local designers to decorate with a theme of
their choice. “Our designer participants donate their time and all
decorations,” Conwell notes. There are also trees available for
sponsorship levels between $5,000 and $25,000, as well as raffle
trees trimmed with Swarovski crystals, gift cards, memorabilia and
souvenirs from the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues. Most of
the trees will be available via silent or live auction.

Money raised during the Children’s Holiday Festival supports
initiatives such as SLCH’s family care fund, which helps families
pay for transportation and any other expenses incurred during
hospitalization.

The family of 5-year-old Isaac Noel understands firsthand how
important that fund is. Eighteen hours after he was born, Isaac was
diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and aortic
stenosis. “By all statistics, he wasn’t supposed to make it,”
recalls mom Yvonne Noel. “Isaac had shown great signs of failure
within hours of birth, and when he was transferred to Children’s, I
was told he was one of the sickest children they’ve ever received
at arrival.”

Under the caring hands of cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Charles
Huddleston, nurses and staff, Isaac underwent his first open heart
surgery at 5 days old. “For him to even make it to surgery was an
amazing miracle—but he did,” Noel says. Since then, Isaac has
undergone a total of five successful open heart surgeries. “It’ll
be a challenge all his life, but his life is a gift to us,” she
says. “He’s been doing amazingly well. He loves everything: playing
basketball, kickball, riding bikes and reading. He’s able to do
everything else that a 5-year-old would want to do.”

Noel says her family will forever be grateful for Children’s
Hospital’s role in Isaac’s recovery. “As parents, we have been
challenged by Isaac’s serious needs,” she says. “It has taken us to
a place of deep need where God has placed Children’s Hospital in
our lives. We are extremely thankful for the medical team,
facilities, and the generosity and compassion of the hospital’s
donors.”

Last year, the Noels were the recipient of an honorary tree,
courtesy of the Meintjes and Schuller families, who sponsored it.
“The theme of the tree was ‘Isaac’s Joy,’ and it was decorated with
all types of balls and sports equipment. They did such a beautiful
job—we still have it up,” Noel says. “Just thinking about it brings
all the emotions back. It was such a great moment of celebration
and victory for our family.”